(72% cabernet sauvignon, 22% merlot and 6% petit verdot): Opaque ruby. Assertive redcurrant, cherry and pipe tobacco aromas, with suave floral and mineral notes gaining strength with air. Fresh and precise, offering deeply concentrated red berry and bitter cherry flavors, a supple texture and slow-building sweetness. Becomes more exotically floral with air, finishing sappy and long, with excellent clarity and gentle tannic grip. An extremely promising young Monte Bello that smoothly melds power and vivacity.

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Five cask samples tasted, each inching towards thefinal blend.Control sample A: Deep purple. Very opulent and leathery and seductive – notes that are almost reminiscent of ripe Syrah, then lots of minerals on the palate and a great charge of very fine tannins. Dry but not drying finish. Lots of verve. Almost Lafite like in its raciness. Just Cabernet Sauvignon with some Merlot.B, with an addition of 11% Petit Verdot for solidity (froma selection from a vineyard up in Foothills established in the 1880s): Less nose than the wine above, more solid and moreacidity. Rather harder work. Something a little tarry on the finish. Less aromatic lift. Denser. Latour like. Serious PV tannins.C, with the addition of 7% Steep Terraces Cabernet Sauvignon: More fragrance and fat than B but with the spice of Petit Verdot. Much more complex than B. 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot.D, with the addition of 9% New Fosters Block CabernetSauvignon planted in 1996: More obvious Cabernet Sauvignon on the nose. Very solid and a certain juiciness. C is more immediately attractive. Solid greenness and ageing potential added with D but more density and acidity the difference between B and A. This last portionwas considered too strong to add earlier. 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot.E, with a 7% addition of South Slope Merlot, a selection from See Ranch, 'one of our favourites': Very firm and fine andpolished with lovely sweetness at the end. Still quite youthful with lots of acidity but great grace and polish. Much less raw than sample A. Fatter. More complex. Still refined.

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The 2009 Monte Bello ,72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot is simply magnificent. Layers of dark red fruit, flowers, spices and graphite are all woven together in this utterly impeccable wine. The 2009 is an especially huge, intense Monte Bello, yet a sexy, silky core of fruit lies within its imposing frame. Everything comes together in this glorious, radiant wine. Last year the 2009 had some pretty stiff competition from the 2010, but today it is simply firing on all cylinders. Eric Baugher describes 2009 as a year with cold weather early on, followed by heat in early June and July. The fruit was brought in on October 12, just before an intense downpour swept through the region. There is a purity and silkiness supported by structure in the 2009 that is impossible not to admire. Simply put, this is another utterly magnificent, towering masterpiece from Ridge. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2049.

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Taut and structured, with cedar-laced currant, dark berry and dried berry notes joining a mix of mineral-laced fresh earth and tobacco flavors, offering a wide range of tight-knit fruit overall. Firmly tannic on the finish, yet the ripe purity pushes through. True-to-form Monte Bello in a classic style. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot.

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